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I hunted with Rusty Bogers in 2010, unit 35. Killed the bull thats my profile on the last day of the hunt. My buddy shot a nice 300+ bull on that hunt as well. I had a chance at a 300+ bull but my darn scope fogged up and I couldn't locate him. Rusty runs a top notch operation and as mentioned above will give 110% to get you into bulls. We stayed at his lodge on our hunt but I know he packs into unit 45 as well. My partner at the time doesn't like horses and isn't in the best of shape so we picked the lodge to hunt out of. I know his guides at the time were very professional and had quite a bit of experience. The food in camp was amazing.

Pretty sure most of the country could use some drought relief. We are farmers so we feel the pain pretty bad here in ks too, it's been months without any moisture here. If the drought don't break, we won't have much to harvest next fall, so that leaves Sep. pretty open for hunting. We were in a record drought here this year, but I didn't think it hurt our antler growth on our deer too much, still saw about the usual amount of good deer. Anybody else notice it having much of an effect on antler growth?
We are leaning on 45 for now, so I don't think we would draw it this year anyways. But...we could get lucky, and it's never too early to start doing my research. Either way, I'll keep building points and going OTC in Co until I draw.

I don't think it affected antler growth here much in Missouri, but it sure did affect corn growth. I got 90 bushel corn this fall, 10 year average on my farm is over 160. What few rains we got this summer were very timely, and saved our bean crop.

I saw just as many big deer hit the ground this fall as I have in years past, even though I feel like we had far fewer deer than in years prior.

If you draw area 38 you can bow hunt there in sept. with a bow only tag or you can rifle/bow hunt starting oct. 15. 38 is one of the areas you can not bow hunt the rut in sept. then rifle hunt later in the year. 38 is CROWED come rifle season. Bull elk, cow elk and deer season all open up at the same time oct. 15 in area 38. Beaver Trap Outfitters would be the way to go if you want to hunt 38 with an outfitter.

If you draw area 38 you can bow hunt there in sept. with a bow only tag or you can rifle/bow hunt starting oct. 15. 38 is one of the areas you can not bow hunt the rut in sept. then rifle hunt later in the year. 38 is CROWED come rifle season. Bull elk, cow elk and deer season all open up at the same time oct. 15 in area 38. Beaver Trap Outfitters would be the way to go if you want to hunt 38 with an outfitter.

If you really want a true backcountry hunt, its not gonna happen in the Bighorns. With that said, I would take a good look at Beaver Trap. I know the owner, Ross and he really works his butt off for his clients. This fall he killed some really good bulls . I helped him pack out 1 bull that was pushing 340. If your having trouble getting a hold of him, its because he is chasing lions this time of year.
If you want to look at a good outfitter for a wilderness horseback hunt, I would get with Bob Sundeen at Trailswest Outfitters. They pack into a very good area and have a good reputation. The area that he hunts allows archery and rifle with the same tag, in fact you can bow hunt until the end of September then rifle hunt the 1st of Oct. I don't personaly know him, but have hunted in the same area that he does for years. Good Luck

If you really want a true backcountry hunt, its not gonna happen in the Bighorns. With that said, I would take a good look at Beaver Trap. I know the owner, Ross and he really works his butt off for his clients. This fall he killed some really good bulls . I helped him pack out 1 bull that was pushing 340. If your having trouble getting a hold of him, its because he is chasing lions this time of year.
If you want to look at a good outfitter for a wilderness horseback hunt, I would get with Bob Sundeen at Trailswest Outfitters. They pack into a very good area and have a good reputation. The area that he hunts allows archery and rifle with the same tag, in fact you can bow hunt until the end of September then rifle hunt the 1st of Oct. I don't personaly know him, but have hunted in the same area that he does for years. Good Luck

I agree... Ross is one of my personal friends and he is awesome. He will put you on elk without a doubt.

I hunted unit 23 a couple years ago and would stay away unless you can spend a couple weeks out there waiting for a bull. The elk know exaclty where the private land is and will hover back on forth with even slight hunting pressure. It's just not a fun hunt watching bulls on private land waiting for them to venture onto public. I had a better time on my WY general unit hunt.

Thanks again to all....lots of good info. coming in to add to my list of notes. Bob Sundeen/Trails West Outfitters is one of the outfitters on my list, so I will definitely keep him there and try to get in contact with him. Any idea of how many points it takes to draw his area? As for Ross with Beaver Trap, you are right, he did finally call me back and I was unavailable, but he said he is hard to reach this time of year. That's all ok, that's why Im trying to get an early start to sort through all this info. As for 23, I'll probably cross it off the list, thanks elkocd...I agree I don't want to play the private/public game with the elk. Ive done that in CO and it's a loosing game too often. It's encouraging to know Im looking in most the right places, and the good people on the forum have good knowledge to help back up my thoughts. Thanks to all of you.